Sound Within Film

In class, we looked at the opening scene of the 2011 film 'Priest' and focussed specifically on the elements of sound in the extract.

We made notes on:
- Dialogue (Words/Vocals) - Sound that is part of the script/screenplay. Dialogue is usually within the diegesis of the movie but can sometimes be amplified to further impact the scene and emphasise a characters words.
- Ambient Sound - This is an element of sound that is often non-diagetic, and applies to sounds used to create a natural base layer of sound in the seen that helps the audience's suspension of disbelief. Ambience is often created with the sounds of birds or leaves in outdoor areas, the creaks of furniture and doors in other parts of a house, traffic and chatter on a busy high street etc.
- Soundtrack/Score - The soundtrack or the score includes any music that is edited into the film. Most films have a soundtrack that is a mix of original and unoriginal tracks.
- Silence - When you listen closely to a film you will discover that there will be almost no time in which there is complete silence. This means that silence can be very effective when attempting to disorientate or scare your audience.
- Sound Effect/Foleying - Sound that is the direct result of an action within the scene, for example the sounds a door being closed or a hammer knocking in a nail. Sound effects are often parts non-diegetic as they are sounds from the diegesis that have been amplified to create more impact on the audience. Sometimes sound effects are completely non-diegetic, in which case they are created by a process called foleying.